>>> Item number 32486 from WRITERS LOG9406D --- (96 records) ----- <<<
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 18:35:03 JST
Reply-To: WRITERS
Sender: WRITERS
From: Mike Barker
Subject: TECH: Making the Most of Posting
[carping at the flood of inanity? tis unlike thee to cast stones while
fishing, but perhaps the pain of the hook will be dulled by the tasty
weight of weaseling words? onward, then, and keep thy line taut, but
pray avoid tautology lest none be taught...]
small points (though none too short):
1. Consider your readers. (for those searching for the mystical
magical secret of writing, there it is. have at it!)
2. Every message has a cost. Try to make sure your content or your
style, preferably both, are worth (your readers) while and smile.
(for the mathematically desperate - multiply the value of your content
times the wit of your words, then add bonus points for editing,
revision, and thoughtful pondering before posting. if the result is
great, don't hesitate. if not so fine, wait against a reputation lost,
a soul hurt, and other poisoned words of vile repute.)
potentially pretentious slogans (for the sloganly...)
Time and taste wait for good posting...
I shall post no words before I've refined?
If you can't write anything good, don't spread it around.
(and other foolish sprayings of gelded words...:-)
3. Context lost is not paradise lost - but neither should one load the
plate with fat and hope no one notices how small the shred of meat
hiding therein. I.e., make sure your reader knows what you are talking
about, but trim the extra weight of older words to what is needed...
(five minutes of your editing means 400 people don't have to wade
through those missing words - and displays your points most
attractively! [and we all adore admiring points?])
3. Short retorts must wait for your finest careful scribing, lest they
be mere puffs of noise. Often enough, a bundle of thin reeds provides a
better feast for toilers than those tossed one by one unheeded in the
wind.
4. He who speaks least often is heard most clearly, and fewer postings
let your readers ponder harder on the fine and wondrous writing that
expresses deep and careful thinking. Besides, it leaves more time for
drinking from the other wells of wisdom, wit, and wonder. Or just for
beer, coffee, or ups and downs of your selection.
(again, for the mathematically inept - the more you babble, the less the
impact of each one. Consider making each posting a masterstroke of your
writerly craft and art. You may post less, but think of the delight
we'll all find in seeing your true abilities shining.)
[enough! perhaps too much... let me recommend a reading of Strunk and
White's little book, and then to read, for in those strange postings,
there must be a dream or two about to awake...]
for those of you who may not have your copy of the little book handy...
1. Place yourself in the background
2. Write in a way that comes naturally
3. Work from a suitable design
4. Write with nouns and verbs
5. Revise and rewrite
6. Do not overwrite
7. Do not overstate
8. Avoid the use of qualifiers
9. Do not affect a breezy manner
10. Use orthodox spelling
11. Do not explain too much
12. Do not construct awkward adverbs
13. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking
14. Avoid fancy words
15. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good
16. Be clear
17. Do not inject opinion
18. Use figures of speech sparingly
19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity
20. Avoid foreign languages
21. Prefer the standard to the offbeat
guilty! guilty, and guilty again.
but for my last request, may I have another fine goulash of galumphery
and fiddlesticks from the WRITERS list?
tink
....
....
t
ink lost it